China declines participation in global plan to prevent AI arms race.

This week, China opted not to join an international "blueprint" endorsed by approximately 60 countries, including the U.S., aimed at establishing guidelines for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in military applications.

The REAIM summit in South Korea, held on Monday and Tuesday, attracted more than 90 nations, but about a third of the attendees did not support the nonbinding proposal.

According to AI expert Arthur Herman, the fact that over 30 countries did not participate in a significant development in the race to create AI is not necessarily cause for concern. However, in Beijing's case, it is likely due to their general opposition to signing multilateral agreements.

""In essence, China is cautious about any international agreement that it did not create or organize, and views multilateral efforts as attempts to restrict its use of AI to strengthen its military advantage," he stated."

The summit, which was attended by over 50 nations, aims to protect the rapidly advancing technology of AI by maintaining "human control" over the systems, especially in the areas of military and defense.

Defense and weapons systems algorithms rely heavily on their speed to gather and transmit information quickly to command and control for decision-making.

"The speed of AI's movement is crucial on the battlefield," he emphasized. "If an AI-driven system is making a decision that involves taking a human life, you want it to be one where a human being ultimately makes the final call."

The U.S., which is a leading nation in AI development, emphasizes the importance of maintaining a human element in serious battlefield decisions to prevent mistaken casualties and avoid a machine-driven conflict.

The second summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya, and the United Kingdom, was held after the first meeting last year, which was attended by more than 60 nations in the Dutch capital.

Despite Beijing's support for AI safeguards during the summit last year, China, along with 30 other countries, did not agree to the building blocks that would establish such safeguards.

During a Wednesday press conference, Mao Ning, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, stated that China sent a delegation to the summit at the invitation of the host country. The delegation discussed China's principles of AI governance.

Xi Jinping's "Global Initiative for AI Governance" was highlighted by Mao as providing a comprehensive perspective on China's governance principles.

The spokesperson did not reveal why China did not support the nonbinding blueprint presented at the REAIM summit this week, but stated that "China will continue to be cooperative and productive in collaborating with other countries and contribute more concretely to the betterment of humanity through AI advancements."

While the U.S. and its allies may establish multilateral agreements to safeguard AI practices in military use, they are unlikely to deter adversarial nations like China, Russia, and Iran from developing malign technologies.

The AI expert stated that the best way to control the use of nuclear proliferation or missile technology is through deterrence. To prevent those who seek to use AI as an automatic kill mechanism, the AI expert suggested that the best approach is to make it clear that if they develop such weapons, they can expect the same response.

Herman stated that relying on their sense of altruism or high ethical standards to control their actions is not accurate, as that is not how it functions.

Reuters contributed to this report.